A Story to Tell
by li3atinali3
Summary: A story about two young mutants, a cleverly timed manifestation and an awkward sneeze. It's an OC.
1. Exam nerves

**A story to tell.**

**One.  
Exam nerves.**

It was a day unlike any other, except for the fact that she was sitting her end of year physics exam. The exam hadn't begun, but already her concentration was wavering, as her gazed flicked to the windows that let in the sunshine.

The plump exam official walked down the aisle, watching out for any students who had answers tucked into their scientific calculators, and for those who were flicking through the question booklet trying to get a glimpse at the paper.  
She picked up her 2B pencil and began filling out her name and colouring the small ovals.

_Lacey Vanders_.

Lacey glanced up at the clock just as the supervisor called out for everyone to start their exam.

She skirted through the multi-choice questions with ease – no doubt her ability to slyly look over the shoulder of the student in front of her helped, but her concentration left her as she looked at the long response questions.  
They wanted her to apply her knowledge of the theory of special relativity. Did she know anything about the theory of special relativity to begin with? Did any normal seventeen year old?

Her stomach was beginning to turn as she flicked through the rest of the questions, pausing quickly on each to see if she could answer anything. Her breathing began to quicken and she realised that this exam was near impossible; she had no idea how to answer any of these. Someone's arm shot up in the air in the row next to her. Lacey turned her head and felt the blood drain from her face. Someone was already asking for another booklet.

She gripped onto the corners of the desk, her legs entwined around the legs of her chair forcing herself not to stand up and run out of the hall. She whimpered, wondering why she had bothered to come to the exam at all; why she had bothered to turn up early to cram before they were called in.

Her bag was sitting at the front of the hall. It stood, slumped against the wall, zipper slightly opened, teasing her with the answers that rested within. Lacey moaned, biting the end of her pen.

An hour and a half later, and she had scribbled a few vague answers, but it was no help. Her panic had risen significantly as more and more students asked for another answer booklet, and it was harder for her to maintain her spot in her chair. She pushed back her chair and rested her head in her arms, trying to slow her breathing.

'Excuse me?'

She knew someone was trying to talk to her. She hadn't exactly made the effort to hide her struggles, and was sure that at least one of the supervisors had noticed.

'Are you alright dear?'

Lacey nodded her buried head.

'Did you want to go to the bath- ', the woman stopped suddenly. Lacey slowly looked up, wondering if the woman had given up on her, but she was still standing there, looking over her desk.

'No, I'm alright,' Lacey whispered, not wanting to get into trouble for talking too loud. She glanced at the clock; she still had an hour and a half left, and returned to her work.

Lacey looked up again, the supervisor still looking at her with the same look of concern. She tried not to stare at the woman, but she couldn't help but notice that she wasn't blinking.

Or moving.

Her panic started up again as she looked around the room; everything else seemed to have frozen. Or, it looked that way.

She pushed her chair back quickly, looking around to see if anyone had reacted.

Nothing.

Lacey stood up from her chair and walked over to the person next to her, her heart racing, though not from nerves.

The whole hall seemed to have stopped; everyone except her.

Not taking the chance of losing this perfect opportunity, Lacey ran to her bag, exam paper in hand and began looking through her notes

She finished within what she assumed to be something near an hour, and after making a few deliberate mistakes, she sat back down at her desk, waiting for whatever started this phenomenon to make everyone start moving again.  
Lacey looked around the room; everyone still paused over their papers. Nothing had changed.

'C'mon,' she murmured, feeling a little anxious. Was everyone stuck like this?

She knew there was only one reason for why everyone would've been frozen like this. One logical reason; whoever did was a mutant.  
She was the only person who was moving in the hall, so the mutant couldn't be in here. It had to be outside. Right?

'It can't be me…' she whispered, 'I'm… not a mutant.' Lacey looked around the hall, trying to find someone move, but none did – proof enough that she had to have been the one to do this.

'Oh my god,' she muttered loudly, closing her eyes tightly. Only a moment ago she was happy that she had finished the exam without worrying about what this situation was.

With her eyes closed tight, she tried to imagine everyone moving again. She went red with effort before a slight murmur echoed through the hall.

Everyone began moving with a confused gasp.

The woman at Lacey's desk stumbled a little, shook her head and continued walking down the row.

* * *

**A/N: **New story! Hope you guys find it interesting.  
**Disclaimer:** I own every single character! Yes, that's right. Except the two references to the movies; mutant registration and the...events of the third movie (I can't say much without giving a little too much away).


	2. Bless you!

**Two.  
Bless you!**

'Oh man, I totally zoned out halfway through that stupid test,' said a black-haired girl with tanned skin as they relaxed on the grassy hill outside the school hall.

'Same here, it was weird. Like I forgot what I was thinking,' replied what looked like her sister, though her dark hair was cut into a short bob around her chin.

'Hey Jaz, how did you guys go?' a shorter, plumper girl sat down next to them, addressing the sister with longer hair.

'It was tough, Jess finished before all of us though,' Jasmine nodded towards her sister who smirked casually. 'How about you?'

'Don't get me started. Half of it was jibberish,' said Miranda, leaning back on her bag.

Lacey sat quietly, staring at the hall as if waiting for it to sprout legs and run off. She was still in a state of shock; what had happened in that hall seemed so outlandish that it felt like it never happened at all, as though she had dreamed it.

But she handed her paper in, completed and probably near perfect, no thanks to her notes.

'Lace?'

'Huh?' Lacey turned to face Jessica who was looking at her with a perplexed expression.

'Are you alright? You look really pale,' she said.

'Yeah… I'm alright, that was just a really hard test,' replied Lacey.

'We were just talking about how weird it was that we all seemed to zone out at the same time,' said Jasmine shaking her head.

Lacey had no idea what they were talking about; she was too preoccupied with the fact that she may have frozen everyone. Though, it was pretty cool now that she wasn't worried about remembering information or trying to un-freeze everyone.

Would that mean she would have to get registered? Lacey didn't remember if they still made mutants do that anymore.

Though, there was the possibility that what happened had nothing to do with her – that it could have been another mutant. Or some space-time anomaly. And besides, what did it matter? She wasn't exactly using her mutation – if it was hers to begin with.

'Do you guys have any exams left?' Miranda asked, breaking a thoughtful silence.

'No? Well, I was thinking we could go to the mall and have a celebratory lunch? I'm sure my mum's restaurant will pay,' she smiled, hoping everyone would come along.

'Sure,' said Lacey without thinking.

Sure enough, they were trekking their way through the maze of streets, careful to avoid the boy's high school that lay somewhere within.  
Jessica and Miranda walked ahead, discussing their answers to the questions with such intensity that both Jasmine and Lacey decided to lag behind.

'Lace, are you alright? You look like you're going to be sick,' said Jasmine, looking at the ground.

'I'm… right,' Lacey began wondering if she should say anything about what happened earlier.

They continued walking in silence, trying to block out the conversation from Jessica and Lacey that drifted over to them.

'Hey Jaz, um, have you heard anything about mutants recently?' Lacey asked, finally deciding that this would probably be the best way to talk about what had happened.

'Why?' Jasmine shot a quick glance at Lacey who was careful not to catch her eye.

'No reason, don't worry,' Lacey said quickly.

'Well, there's still all of Alistair's group…I haven't heard of any new kids joining,' said Jasmine, Lacey was thoroughly glad that her friend liked anything that sounded remotely like gossip.

'Though… I heard from Bernadette that there may be rumors of a few new kids,' she continued.

'Really? What's Alistair done about that?' asked Lacey. Alistair was well known for his forceful tactics to have any new mutant at their school part of his little group. He made it obvious to everyone that there were only two groups; mutants and everyone else.

'Nothing yet, but you can be sure to expect something. Thank god it's summer break, so we don't have to witness another brawl,' said Jasmine as they turned down a short street that led to the doors of the mall.

Jessica and Miranda were waiting for the two other girls to catch up before walking in. They both looked a little frazzled, as they usually did after an intense conversation about exams.

'God you guys took forever,' Jessica rolled her eyes, opening the door. They stood in the small corridor that opened into the main center for a few minutes, chatting amongst themselves.

'Can we go to the arcade? Please, I need to get my mind off that exam,' Lacey pleaded, knowing that a nice first-person-shooter would definitely distract her.

'Yeah, sure, it's just over there,' Jasmine flung her hand out unnecessarily and pointed towards one end of the mall, hitting Lacey's nose in the process.

Jasmine looked at her apologetically and began walking out with her sister and Miranda, leaving Lacey struggling not to sneeze. The door swung open behind her, and someone stormed through the corridor.

'Hey!' she exclaimed as they bumped into her shoulder, but she was broken off by a rather loud sneeze, much to her relief. She opened her eyes, and a guy wearing the same putrid green and yellow school bag stalked off shaking his head.

'Huh?' someone called. Lacey walked apprehensively down the hall and gasped.

It had happened again. Everyone and everything had stopped.

Everyone, except that one guy that had bumped into her.

She walked cautiously around, looking closely at all the people who had stopped dead in the tracks. Lacey looked over at the guy who was doing just the same; waving his hands in front of their faces and poking them. And then a thought struck her.

'It was you!' she called out, startling so much that he jumped back, hitting a stationary figure behind him, causing them to fall to the floor like a block.

'How come you're still moving?' he asked, looking at her from afar.

'How am I meant to know, you did this!' said Lacey.

'What?' he took a step closer, being careful to avoid the person he had knocked over.

'Yeah, and at school during the exam. You must've done this!'

'Uh, no. I didn't,' he replied walking closer. 'From the looks of it, I'm pretty sure _you_ did this.' He was now standing barely a meter from her, looking somewhat intrigued.

'But I'm not a mutant!' she stammered. The guy shrugged.

'Look, I know what I can do… and freezing time isn't included,' he flicked his messy light brown hair that reached his jaw in annoyance.

Lacey didn't quite get what he meant until she had noticed that he was right; it wasn't just the people who had stopped, the clocks all did too.

He looked at her as though he was expecting her to realise sooner, with a condescending smile etched onto his face.

'Wait, you're a mutant?' said Lacey in shock. The boy bowed in response, disappearing right before her eyes.

* * *

**A/N:** This is what happens when I say I'm going to stick to a time-table. I don't! This story may be out a little slower, because I'm still unsure on how to end it. What that means is that I know how I _want_ it to end, it's just a matter of adding/fixing/taking away parts of the story to make it work!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed my last chapter!


	3. Swing Conversations

**Three  
Swing conversations.**

If that guy was right, hypothetically, it would be up to her to unfreeze everyone. Lacey closed her eyes the same way she did during the exam and concentrated hard on everyone moving again; not only thinking about the people, but also of the clocks around her. Slowly, a faint ticking began all around her ears and grew louder and louder until life restarted itself around her.

Instead of meeting her friends, Lacey left to walk home, wanting time to think out what happened. This was so surreal; it was like she was stuck in a vivid dream. She suddenly felt so afraid; she was so different now from everyone else that it felt like everyone – her friends and family – felt so far away. She ignored the messages sent by her friends who were no doubt confused by her sudden absence. What would she tell them? She wasn't like them anymore.

There was a small voice inside that told her that she was being irrational; that her friends wouldn't care, and her family wouldn't flee, but she shook it away.

She got home sooner than what she anticipated, and held her breath as she knocked on the door, as if waiting for her older brother to answer the door and know straight away. He answered looking rather bemused and shouted down the hall, 'Don't worry, it's only my sister.' A tall girl with straight strawberry blonde hair stepped from the hall and smiled at Lacey looking a little flustered.

'Hullo Jane,' Lacey mumbled, wanting to get to her room as soon as possible.

'Ben told me you've finished your exams… maybe we can hang out some time? I've wanted to straighten you hair for a while,' said Jane. Lacey wanted to say sure; Jane was rather nice, but she replied with a stiff OK and headed towards her room, catching a glimpse at her wavy brown hair that never behaved the way she wanted it to.

She changed out of her school attire and into a pair of black shorts and a blue tee, and began pacing around her room. How would she tell her parents? How would they react? Countless scenes of her telling her parents all ended up with her standing outside the house with her belongings in a bag by her feet. She had heard of it happening so many times, why wouldn't it happen to her?

Though, maybe she shouldn't tell her parents? Her mutation didn't interfere with anything, and she certainly couldn't hurt anyone. She didn't even know how to use it willingly.

It was pretty cool power, though; being able to stop time would definitely come in handy. Soon enough she began thinking up possible scenarios where she could use her powers – exams, getting to places earlier than others… robbing banks… Lacey grinned at that last one. She was beginning to feel a little better – she would just treat this sudden…change as a mysterious secret. Something no one would know about her; something that set her apart.

It was still light outside, and still warm, so Lacey decided to go for a walk. For a while she wandered around the streets listening to music until her mp3 player gave in and stopped working. She was a fair distance from home, but she didn't care. She preferred it this way.

She came to a small park where a few children were playing soccer, and a group of teens loitered around a back fence with a suspicious smoke rising amongst them. Lacey sat on one of the swings and assessed her mp3 player, resisting the urge to start battering and cursing it.

'What are you doing here?' Lacey jumped in her seat, almost dropping the small device. Standing by the swing next to her, arms crossed, was the guy from the mall. He examined her closely, with a look of slight curiosity.

'I was on a walk,' she said smartly.

'Oh, for a moment I thought I had a stalker,' he replied exaggerating sadness.

'What's your name?' he asked, sitting on the swing.

'Lacey,' she said, wandering what he was doing there.

'I'm Oliver,' he replied, beginning to swing.

'I'm sorry… but what exactly are you doing here? I mean, you could be the one following me!' Lacey blurted. Oliver stopped swinging and stared at her.

'I was with them,' he pointed to the group of teens who were now looking dazedly in their direction.

'And you decided to pop over for a visit? I'm flattered,' said Lacey smugly.

'Well, that and they were gonna roll you for you mp3 player,' said Oliver as if it were no big deal.

'Excuse me?' Lacey looked over at them and tightened her grip on the device.

'Don't worry, they won't come over now unless Joe comes around,' Oliver looked down the street with a slightly worried expression.

'What's up with Joe?' Lacey tried to sound like she knew who he was talking about.

'Oh, Joe's their supplier. They'll want something even though they're all broke.'

'Ah.'

'Don't worry. I only hang around them cos they do stupid things when they're high,' said Oliver, still looking down the road.

'So, um, I haven't seen you around school…' Lacey began, trying to steer the conversation away from underage teens and their illegal inclinations.

'No surprises there,' he muttered. 'I started just before exams, I'm in final year, and you're a year below?'

Lacey nodded, not really bothered about how he knew that.

'What brings you out here then?' Oliver asked, 'this isn't exactly the friendliest place in town.'

'Just wanted to walk, you know,' she replied, pushing herself lightly in her seat. She knew what he meant having witnessed her blatant refusal to accept she had stopped time in the mall, but she wasn't about to open up to just anyone. Oliver nodded, realizing her apprehension and started swinging himself.

Their conversation wavered as they swung well into the later afternoon; both apparently reluctant to say anything more about themselves, and both very keen not to discuss anything to do with mutants or powers. Sure she had spoken to guys before, but none seemed so knowing. Lacey didn't particularly want to go home, but she knew that she should start walking; otherwise she'd be back after dinner. She stood from her swing and stretched.

'Going?' Oliver asked. Lacey nodded.

'Well, it was nice talking,' she said, standing awkwardly by her swing.

'You aren't walking are you?'

'Well I can't fly, you know…'

'Where do you live?' he asked. Lacey stared at him incredulously. He had only just told her that he hung out with kids who did drugs like a fish gulping down water. He rolled his eyes. 'Okay, fine, walk then. You may as well give me all your cash – it'll save you from being beaten up.' Oliver held his hand out, waiting for her. Lacey stared at his hand, then his eyes, glaring. She huffed and told him her street, refusing to give any more information. Oliver closed his eyes for a moment, thinking and nodded.

'Near a service station with that obscenely bright yellow sign?' he asked, and took hold of Lacey's wrist when she nodded.

'Alright, here we go then!' He cleared his throat, and Lacey looked at him expectantly. He grinned, and suddenly the park, trees and houses all fell from their feet, only to be instantly replaced by a street lined with thick trees that seemed to fall from the sky all around them. When the ground felt solid beneath them, Lacey stumbled, only to be held up by Oliver's strong grasp on her wrist.

He grinned at her as she composed herself, as if he were waiting for her to look impressed. Instead, she looked a little sick.

'It's weirder when large bodies of water fall from the sky,' he commented as Lacey allowed him to walk her to her house without speaking. She moved her head in what he assumed was a nod. They stopped at the gate; Oliver looked up at the two-story home in awe.

'I've… got to… bye,' she murmured, reaching for the lock.

'Wait, are you…alright?' Oliver stopped her hand, turning her around.

'It's just been a long day,' she said, shrugging her hand from his before opening the gate and walking stiffly up the driveway and to the front door without looking back. Oliver stepped back, somewhat confused and disappeared.

* * *

**A/N:** : )

Hope you like it!


	4. Surprise Visits

**Four  
Surprise visits.**

For that good hour that she was talking to Oliver in the park, she had completely forgotten what had happened that day, but then he had to go and remind her. Lacey stepped into the house, to be greeted by the smell of bacon and eggs frying in the kitchen.

'Sorry I'm late, mum,' she greeted her mother who was reading a magazine next to the stove top.

'It's okay, Ben told me you were at Jaz and Jess' place,' said her mother, looking up from her magazine.

'Oh… good,' Lacey cast a glance down the hallway where Ben was watching, making sure she would play along. There was no doubt that Jane was still upstairs.

'How was your exam?' her mother asked, pushing the bacon around in the fry-pan.

'Huh?' Lacey had completely forgotten that she had sat a test today, compared finding out she was a mutant, using her powers twice accidentally, and running into another –rather cute- mutant, her test was the furthest thing on her mind. 'Oh, physics… yeah, it wasn't too bad,' she reflected rather grimly.

'You should call Paul, he'll want to know that you're done,' her mum mumbled, trying to hide her resentment. Her parents had only recently finished with a messy divorce that took four long years of intense arguments and affairs. Lacey saw her dad once a month for a whole weekend, Ben didn't bother. He was a little less forgiving with Paul's misdemeanors, which Stella – their mother – was a little glad for.

'I'll… call him tomorrow or something,' said Lacey, sliding off the stool and walking to the fridge.

'This is all we've got for tea tonight, I can't really be bothered cooking,' Stella said, taking the bacon and eggs off the frying pan and placing them on two plates.

'Ben's not eating?' Lacey asked, pulling out two glass cups and filling them with water and red cordial.

'No, he says he's already eaten,' Stella began eating. Lacey wasn't hungry at all, but managed to force down the meal before getting up and placing the dishes into the dishwasher. She thanked her mum quickly before rushing upstairs to her room.

She glanced at her phone which boasted four missed phone calls; all from Jasmine. Lacey turned on her computer and waited for it to load, flicking through her school's newsletter, her eyes searching for the little box that held all their pro-mutant news. They congratulated the two new students, though not mentioning their names, on their discoveries and applauded Alistair on a pro-mutant speech he gave to the community. Lacey had heard some of his speeches at school before; it was mostly pro-mutant propaganda. If you aren't one of us, you're our enemy – that's what it sounded like most of the time.

She logged onto an instant-relay chat client, but before she could check who was online Jasmine was already talking to her.

_JaZZerz_: Hey, what happened? You never answered my calls or msg's.

_lace:_ Sorry, had to get home quickly.

_JaZZerz_: Oh, OK. Should've just told me.

_lace:_ I… also bumped into a new kid at school.

_JaZZerz_: Oh! Who?

_lace_: His name is Oliver…something.

_JaZZerz_: Oliver….

_JaZZerz_: Sounds familiar…

_JaZZerz_: I think Miranda might know… I'll add her, one sec.

Lacey paused for a moment, thinking if she should tell her friends about her discovery today, but quickly decided against it. She needed some more time to think.

_Mirrr_: Hey guys! :)

_lace_: Hi.

_JaZZerz_: Lace said she met a boy today!

_Mirrr_: What?! OMG!

_JaZZerz_: Yeah. Some guy called Oliver.

_Mirrr_: Him? Oh.

_Mirrr_: My brother knows about him. Wait, I'll go ask. BRB.

_lace_: you… don't have to.

_JaZZerz_: We'll suss him out for you!

_JaZZerz_: Oh, so tell us! Is he cute?

Though, before Lacey could answer, Miranda had replied.

_Mirrr_: OK back!

_Mirrr_: Danny says he came just in time for exams, so he hasn't seen him around school much.

_JaZZerz_: That's no help. Why'd he move?

_Mirrr_: Sif I know. Wait, I'll ask again BRB.

_lace_: I think I'm gonna go…

_JaZZerz_: no, wait!

_Mirrr_: OK. Danny doesn't know. LOL I think he thinks I like him now or something, cos he said something about him hanging out with stoners.

_Mirrr_: Danny also reckons he had some trouble with Alistair.

_JaZZerz_: omg…really?

_Mirrr_: yep… wonder what that means…

_JaZZerz_: doesn't sound so good… maybe he's… you know… shifty?

_Mirrr_: Maybe you shouldn't like… see him?

_JaZZerz_: Haha! Now she'll do the opposite… just cos you told her not to LOL.

_lace_: yeah, maybe. We only spoke for a few minutes

_lace_: … it was nothing really.

She could see they really wanted more dirt on what happened, but Lacey really wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone anymore. All she wanted to do was hang out in her room for the rest of the summer holidays. She logged off after saying a quick goodbye and rested on her bed forcing herself to sleep, trying to keep her mind off this mysterious new boy.

**xxx**

She had spent the last three days hidden inside her room, only going out for food and bathroom trips. Thankfully her mum had work, so she never really knew that her daughter wasn't doing anything productive, and her brother never really seemed to care. Lacey had been trying, however, to get her powers to work on will, so her time wasn't spent doing nothing at all. She had found out it required some concentration for her to picture everything around her slowing to a halt, but not as much as she had to in order to get things moving again. By the third day, she was able to pause anything within a ten meter radius with ease, though starting everything back up again still gave her a headache. She couldn't imagine how she managed to pause an entire hall full of moving people, let alone a whole mall. Though, she had guessed that her powers weren't as strong as they were when they first kicked in.

Later on that day there was a knock at the front door, Lacey called out to her mum to answer – she was busy pause and playing water she was dropping into a bucket below, thinking about how she was unintentionally trying to refine her abilities.

'Ben!' her mum called up the stairs. She heard her say something to whoever was at the door, but it was muffled. Someone came walking up the stairs, so Lacey poked her head out from her doorway; Ben always brought cool friends home.

Something inside her leapt as she saw familiar brown, messy hair bob up the staircase. She quickly closed the door and hid behind her bookshelf. She heard Ben's door creak open, followed by a grunt. Lacey listened hard as footsteps grew closer to her door, and finally a soft knock. She held her breath.

'I know you're in there,' Oliver said with a sort of indecision in his voice, as if he were contemplating letting himself in. She walked to her door and opened it, standing at the threshold, not letting him in.

'Why are you here?' Lacey crossed her arms.

'Why haven't you been out in three days?' Oliver said, raising his eyebrows. Lacey caught his eyes wandering, and quickly released her arms realizing that her top wasn't exactly… male friendly.

'So you're stalking me now?' she glared, stepping back into her room, wondering if she could reach over to her chair, pull a t-shirt on and hold the door closed at the same time.

'Don't flatter yourself,' Oliver huffed, taking a smooth step back ready to walk back out.

'Oh, alright, come in. I'm surprise my mum let you in the house,' Lacey held the door open.

'I told her I was here for your brother… oh whoa,' Oliver had spotted her experiment. Beads of water hung in the air as if on string, he poked one which wobbled, leaving a wet spot on his finger.

'How's that going?' he asked, turning to Lacey who was still standing by her door, who shrugged.

'Listen, I wanted to apologise for the other day. You were probably a little… overwhelmed, and my little stunt probably didn't help.'

'You came all this way just for that?'

'It wasn't a very long trip,' he grinned, but turned serious. 'I mean it though… for some reason, being the source of your misery and isolation doesn't sit so well with me.' Lacey didn't know if she should believe his sincerity. He seemed to flit between earnestness and flippancy without second thought.

'Listen, you better go. Usually when my brother has friends over, you can hear his television from the backyard…' Lacey said, for a lack of anything better to say, silently kicking herself as she watched Oliver's shoulders slouch a little. He was a strange guy indeed; Lacey couldn't think of a single other person who would go out of their way like this to apologise.

'This isn't normal is it?' said Oliver quietly, looking around her room. He turned a full three-hundred and sixty degrees before looking at her with a perplexed expression.

'Sorry Lacey,' he shrugged, 'Social interaction is beyond me.'

'It's… alright,' Lacey replied, utterly bewildered.

'Don't worry, I'll use your front door,' he grinned before slinking out of her room and down the stairs. Lacey stood for a moment, bouncing on the spot before grabbing her t-shirt and running down the stairs.

'Wait, Oliver!' she called as she ran out of the house, catching a glimpse of Oliver as he vanished from the driveway, his head tilted as he looked at her. She walked down the driveway and veered to the left, flopping down on the thick grass that made up their small front-yard. It was so obvious that Oliver wanted to talk to her, but she kept pushing him away. She didn't understand why – maybe because there seemed to be something about him that she knew she couldn't empathize with; despite the fact that they both had these crazy powers. She sighed and fell back onto the grass, trying to flatten the arch of her back on the ground. The front door slammed, and Ben walked down the driveway, shaking his head at his little sister.

* * *

**A/N:** Alright, so I tried something new with the chat conversation. I'm not too sure how I feel about it, so any thoughts on it would be great!  
Don't worry, I won't be repeating it any time soon, heh heh heh.

Thanks for the reviews everyone!  
Keep them coming! : )


	5. In This Twilight

**Five**

**In this twilight.**

'Hey Lace,' someone said next to her an hour later. She turned from looking at a line of ants in the grass quickly, but no one was there. Lacey frowned; she had definitely heard a male's voice – one that she knew. Something dropped onto her head, she looked down – it was a small nut.

'Sorry, I didn't actually think you'd fall for that,' he grinned, reappearing next to her.

'You came back, then?' she asked as Oliver rested on the ground, his hands under his head.

'Yeah, I acted a fool – I do that sometimes,' he said, making a point of looking at the tree branches above them.

'Well, your visit was… rather unexpected. But, it was nice to…' Lacey stopped, startled by Oliver who had sat upright. She slowly propped herself up, watching him keenly.

'Wait,' he grabbed her wrist and her home and street disappeared beneath them, replaced by falling homes and a red and purple sky. They were sitting on the flat surface of a building's roof.

'Where are we?' Lacey asked standing up to look at the view. They were on the outskirts of a city she didn't recognize.

'I don't know, actually,' he stood up and walked over to her. She knew this should surprise her, but somehow it didn't. He seemed like the sort to wander aimlessly, without thinking of where he was going or where he wanted to end up. Lacey rested on the railing, trying to keep the smile on her face to herself when Oliver walked up next to her.

'You have grass in your hair,' she teased.

'So do you,' he replied, trying to shake the bits of grass and leaves from his hair, much to Lacey's amusement.

'Hey Oliver, I'm –' she watched as the leaves floated to the ground below them, but was cut off by Oliver.

'No, don't apologise. I know I probably came off a little needy,' he said, 'it isn't everyday you meet someone you feel so compelled to talk to.' He rested his elbows on the railing. Lacey could feel herself go red – she wanted to talk to him too, she just felt so awkward doing so.

'No… I haven't,' she shook her head, 'I mean, I know I've probably been a bit rude. This whole, finding out I've got these powers is so crazy. I can't get my head around the fact that I'm not like…everyone else now,' Lacey sighed.

'It's not as bad as what you think,' he said, watching the lights in the city flicker, 'don't think about those mutants you hear about on television or in the papers… but you know it doesn't make you any less human. We still breathe and feel…'

'I know… I'm just expecting things to get harder… I don't know why, but it feels like this has been all too easy.'

Oliver turned his back to the view, focusing on Lacey now. 'You expect everyone to turn their back on you, don't you?' Lacey shrugged, though that was the fear that burned within her.

'I wouldn't know what to do if I ended up on my own,' she muttered.

'Something tells me that you won't end up kicked out,' Oliver said trying to cheer her up.

'If it won't be my family… It'll be Alistair. If I don't join him, I may as well leave town.'

Oliver ran his hand through his hair, thinking hard. He knew she was trying to convince herself that she needed to leave. Though, he didn't blame her for thinking on it. All around them were signs of confused mutants – lost in a world that would always struggle to accept them. Ever day there would be news of another kid gone missing, sometimes followed by pleas of distraught relatives, sometimes just a brief though leading into a more important non-mutant issue.

'Does he have to know?' he asked.

'He'll find out,' said Lacey darkly. Oliver knew she was right, though. He had only been in town a week when Alistair approached him – he probably had mutants in his clique that could tell him if there were others like them around. Oliver had seen this fear in Lacey in so many new mutants he had come across before – not of themselves, not of their powers, but of being a disappointment to everyone around them. He had seen this fear tear up even the most sensible kids, eventually turning themselves out on the street.

Lacey was different though. He felt something towards her that drove him to want to protect her from that fate. But it wasn't in his nature to stick around anywhere for long.

They stood together in comfortable silence, watching the city sky line as the sun dipped towards the earth when Oliver touched Lacey's shoulder and they reappeared in her room. She sat down on her bed and watched as he disappeared – his silence depressing her more.

**A/N:** The title of this chapter is a direct quote of Nine Inch Nail's song, 'In This Twilight'. The song has some relevance to the chapter, and story in general. Funnily enough, I only realised this after I had written the whole thing and wrote chapter names.

I like it when things come together like that.


	6. Cinematics

**Six  
Cinematics.**

She didn't tell her friends when they met up a week later about her second encounter with Oliver, though they weren't short on questions. It wasn't until Lacey had convinced them that she didn't remember what he looked like that they stopped asking for details. This, in fact, was quite a lie. She remembered nearly everything about his appearance; from the fact that he was a few inches taller then her, to the way his unkempt brown hair flopped over his ears, his fringe (or what appeared to be) swept to one side, to his startling green eyes. She couldn't help but smile to herself when she remembered that stupid grin that seemed to be permanently plastered to his face.

Lacey had managed to steer her friends from the mall the first few times they got together, but she knew they would go back one day. There was a new movie out; an action film with one of their favourite male actors starring in the lead role. Lacey couldn't argue against going, and was rather glad to be leaving her room. Hanging out with Jessica, Jasmine and Miranda gave her a sense of normalcy.

The line to get into the cinema stretched into the food court, where the four of them lined up grumbling.

'Why don't we just go to a later session?' Lacey whined.

'It's not so bad… they're dividing the line up,' Jessica looked up the line, where indeed, some employees were asking people to form a second line. The line began to shorten as the second queue lengthened, and they found themselves in a slightly better spot.

'Oh, ew, look who've crawled out from their hole,' Miranda grumbled a little loudly, causing the people behind them to turn and find out as well. A few sloppily dressed teens that looked like they were about to collapse and fall asleep walked over to the ticket booth, one of which grinned towards their own group. The girls whispered in confusion, wondering who that guy was.

'He doesn't look like a junkie…' Jasmine began.

'Did you see how they're dressed? He's definitely not one of them…' said Jessica, standing on her toes to try and have another look. Lacey tried to subdue her nerves – he had definitely seen her, should she tell her friends?

Jasmine and Miranda giggled, quickly telling their confused friends that he had looked over again, commenting on his choice of wardrobe. Lacey took a quick glance over her shoulder with Jessica following suit; grey jeans and a tight green tee. She turned back to her friends who were still ogling him, deviously deciding to tell them who he was. Though, before she could think of how to break the news, Jasmine and Miranda gasped and started acting as if they were interested in their tickets.

'God Lacey, I really _do_ think you're the stalker around here,' said a voice from behind her. Lacey held her breath, knowing she was probably going red. She turned slowly on the spot, trying to look as cool and composed as possible.

'Hey…Oliver…' she said, trying to make it sound like a proper sentence, rather than a gasp, 'these are my friends, Jess, Jaz and Miranda.' Oliver nodded to each of them.

'Still finding amusement with those…guys?' Lacey said, looking over his shoulder. Oliver shrugged.

'They'll be kicked out during the ads. Plus, I had an inkling you'd be here…' he replied surreptitiously, saying the last bit a little softer.

'How…why?' Lacey stuttered, avoiding the eyes of Jessica, who could hear the entire conversation.

Oliver shrugged looking at one of the movie's posters behind them. Lacey quickly realised he meant the poster of the actor on her wall, she let out a small, non-chalant laugh. Oliver looked over his shoulder at his group who seemed to have trouble finding the right money, annoying the already stressed looking girl in the ticket booth.

'I… should go, eh,' he said looking at her apologetically. 'And…um… sorry, Lacey about… you know,' Oliver shoved his hands in his pockets and turned quickly, turning a pale red and headed back to his group.

Lacey turned back to her group, her head slowly coming back down to earth, ready for an onslaught of questions. She hoped desperately that they didn't hear the apology, because then she'd have to explain that he was talking about his sudden departure a week ago.

It had obviously left as bad a taste in his mouth as it did her.

'_That_ was Oliver?!' Miranda gasped, struggling to put her brother's description to the Oliver they just encountered. Lacey nodded, watching each of their reactions. Jessica, however, looked at Lacey with a strange expression.

'There's something about him…' Jessica thought out loud.

'What do you mean?' Miranda asked everyone turned their attention to Jessica. Out of all the girls, she had the most experience dealing with boys, having had the most relationships then all of them put together.

'I don't know… he looked like he was ready to run off or something. And his eyes – yes, yes, I know they're green – seemed… well, I don't know. Not anxious… ah! I don't know,' Jessica gave up, looking to her sister for support.

'I wouldn't know, he was looking at Lacey the whole time!' Jasmine shrugged as the line began to move. They filed into the cinema and were ordered to the back row, despite their complaints. The usher ignored them and pushed them into their seats.

'I'm gonna need binoculars!' Jasmine complained whilst a sulking Miranda placed her feet up on the chair in front.

'No one better want to sit there,' she hissed, glaring at anyone who looked as though they might want to go anywhere near that seat.

'I'm gonna go get popcorn, anyone want some?' Lacey stood from her seat, searching through her bag for her purse. Jessica shot her a quizzical look and stood up.

'Don't worry, I'll go. Medium, right?' Jessica grabbed her bag and rushed out before Lacey could pull out enough money. She slunk back down in her seat, wondering what was up with Jessica, watching to see if the other two had noticed.  
Jessica came back just as the beginning credits began rolling, shoving the box of popcorn into Lacey's lap.

The movie came to a close, and they discussed it until the lights flickered on. Jasmine and Miranda – who both desperately needed the bathroom – rushed out of the theatre leaving Jessica and Lacey to collect their bags.

'Did you like the movie?' Lacey asked Jessica as they strolled out. Jessica replied with a blunt yes, hastening her pace.

'Jess, what's wrong?' Lacey pulled her arm, stopping Jessica in her tracks, 'You've been weird since we got into the theatre.'

'I saw Oliver,' she said shortly.

'Yeah, so?'

'He was arguing with Joey, one of Alistair's cronies over by the concession stand. I had to wait in line; he saw me looking over and told me off for listening in. Loudly, in fact.'

'Were you listening in?' Lacey asked, bracing herself.

'No! Well, not intentionally anyway. Everyone could hear them. Listen Lacey, that guy's got some issues,' Jessica's tone softened slightly.

'Why? What do you mean?'

Jessica thought for a moment before answering. 'Joey was saying something about Alistair knowing about him and his parents. When Joey mentioned his parents, I could've sworn Oliver was going to go mental. He looked like he was either going to tear Joey apart or run off or something.'

'And then he yelled at you?' Lacey whispered. Jessica nodded, and began walking off, before pausing.

'Look, just be careful with him alright? It can only really mean one thing if Alistair sends messengers to people…' Jessica tried to smile to her but faltered. They walked out into the lobby silently, Lacey somewhat dragging her feet to get there keeping an eye out for Oliver.

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry that this was late, been busy with exams and whatnot!  
Hope you guys don't mind, and that you like this chapter :D


	7. Digging Our Own Graves

**Seven  
Digging our own graves.**

Oliver must have assumed that Jessica told Lacey what happened, because she didn't see him for two very long weeks; something rather hard to achieve due to the small size of the town. Jasmine and Miranda both stopped asking her about him, noticing quickly how sullen she became when they asked if she had hung with him again. Jessica refrained from mentioning anything. It surprised Lacey when she realised just how fast she became fond of Oliver, even though she had only seen him a few times. She didn't even know him that well.

It wasn't until a late Wednesday afternoon when Miranda and Jessica both got a message while they were out hanging out by the beach.

'Danny says there's a fight down at the basketball courts at school,' said Miranda after reading the message.

'Mine's from Kate, same thing,' said Jessica.

'I say we go,' said Lacey, each agreed quickly. This would probably the most exciting thing to happen since the end of their exams. Second to her encounters with Oliver.

They ran from the beach, reaching the back of the school in a matter of minutes, where a small group had already formed.

'I can't see anything, can you?' Miranda hopped up and down, trying to catch a peek.

'Do you know who it is?' Jasmine asked a girl nearby. The girl looked at them in disbelief.

'It's Alistair and some other kid,' she told them excitedly. 'It's a mutant fight!'

Jessica gave Lacey a significant look that both Jasmine and Miranda missed. They had seen these sorts of fights occasionally, when a mutant disagreed with Alistair – refusing to join his gang. When this happened, the mutant nearly always ended up being packed up and moved off to some mutant boarding school. It was usually through these fights that the community would find out if another kid turned out to be a mutant, and not everyone was as accepting as the school.

'So what if I don't join your little club? I have nothing to lose!' yelled out a voice Lacey recognized straight away. She pushed her way to the front of the circle, and watched as Alistair, who was much taller for his age prowled around the circle, his long, blue black hair trailing behind. His hands were glowing a menacing green colour that seemed to pulsate. She caught Oliver's eye, and his face went white. He wanted to tell Lacey to move away, but just ended up staring at her; Alistair had seen where he looked and stopped; his hands returning to normal. Alistair turned to a girl with dyed black hair and heavy black clothing, who shot Lacey a filthy look.

'See, now I can't believe that,' Alistair said, walking towards Lacey who could feel the crowd back away from her.

'No! Wait!' Oliver called desperately

'How about I give you some time to think about it,' Alistair sneered, and stalked off; his gang following closely behind. The crowd broke away with a general air of disappointment, leaving Lacey standing meters away from Oliver.

'C'mon Lacey, he looks angry,' Jessica whispered pulling her away. Lacey pulled her arm from Jessica's grip and stormed up to Oliver, who was still standing in the spot Alistair left him, staring at the ground with a hard expression.

'Oliver?' He looked up slowly, anger blaring in his eyes. Lacey glared at him for a moment before grabbing his wrists. He looked at her; his expression relaxing.

'Anywhere?' he asked, not really expecting a proper answer. Lacey nodded, and the world blurred past them.

**xx**

They landed somewhere where it was still light, in an area of vast greenness. As soon as their feet touched the ground Oliver shook her grip from his wrists and stormed off towards an old, knotted tree and disappeared behind it. Lacey walked towards it hoping he hadn't teleported away, leaving her here. She turned around the tree to Oliver sitting in the grass leaning against the bark looking solemnly out to the horizon. Lacey sat down beside him, holding her knees.

'I'll take you back, but I won't stay,' he said, only looking at Lacey when her silence showed no indication of an answer. Not that he wanted to hear an answer anyway. Though, the need to explain himself was becoming unbearable.

'There were too many people there… Alistair, he'd know… if I'm around… you know what lengths he goes to,' he garbled. Lacey drew her knees closer to her chest, refusing to acknowledge what he was saying in any way.

'What if I don't want to go back?' she whispered into her knees.

'Of course you want to go back,' said Oliver. 'You can't run away from your life…'

'Oh, but you can,' Lacey snapped.

Oliver sighed, 'you have your family and friends… you have school, you can't just leave all that.' They were talking as if she had made up her mind to follow him everywhere he decided to go – as if he was trying to convince her that he wasn't worth it.

'So do you,' she replied stubbornly. Why was he so adamant on detaching, as though he was acting the martyr or something?

'No, I don't,' he said softly. Lacey looked towards Oliver, who sat hunched over looking at his hands. 'My parents were lucky enough to be among the few who were test dummies for Worthington Labs, I was the only one able to escape,' he shuddered, trying not to relive the memory. Lacey was stuck for words; she knew about Worthington Labs and what happened on Alcatraz Island, which took place a few years ago. 'All I know is to run away,' he muttered, 'I can't drag you into that. Half the time I don't even know where I end up.'

'But… I…' Lacey tried, she knew what she wanted to say, but it wouldn't come out. She wanted him to be near her.

'Have you told you family? Do they know?' he asked, 'don't talk to me about wanting to run away until they push you out of their lives.' Oliver grabbed her hand but Lacey shook herself free before he could teleport her back. She backed away from him knowing her efforts would be futile.

'Lacey, please don't do this!' he followed her on foot, as though he had forgotten all about his mutation.

'So everything… all this time, what was it?' she called, trying to keep up her pace, 'a game?' She stopped and glared. 'Let's trick a new confused mutant girl into liking me?' Oliver paused looking somewhat taken aback.

'You… you like me?'

Lacey's cheeks went bright red when she realised what she had actually said. She turned on her heel and marched off yelling, 'that's not the point.'

She squealed rather childishly as Oliver appeared in front of her, causing her to bump into him. She backed off again, not trusting his expression of warmth that had appeared the moment she opened her mouth.

'I…I…' he stuttered looking embarrassed, but Lacey held up her hand and shook her head.

'Don't say it if you're going to just disappear on me.'

'But… you know… I have to,' he said softly.

'Because of Alistair?' she raised her eyebrows.

'Lacey, he knows!' he cried out painfully, 'he'll _use_ you.'

'I'll have you know, I'm not exactly defenseless,' she attempted to glare at him, but sighed sadly, 'it's not just that is it…'

Oliver shook his head, 'if I stay or if I let you come with me, it'll ruin your shot at a good life. At something healthy and normal.' He braced himself, waiting for her to tell him that she couldn't expect anything normal or good, but she said nothing. Lacey knew what she would normally have said in a position like this, but she couldn't bring herself to say it.

As much as she didn't want to admit it, she knew he was right.

But if only he'd stay around one more year so she could finish school… No, not only was that incredibly selfish, but she knew that she couldn't keep him in one spot for that long waiting for her to decide what to do and still expect him to be happy.

She watched as his face fell, reading her own silence.

'Maybe we'll see each other again later?' he said, walking towards her slowly.

Lacey shook her head fervently, but didn't back away. She closed her eyes tight as he reached out to her knowing what this meant. Instead of taking her wrist or hand, he walked closer and wrapped his arms around her body. She breathed in deeply, refusing to hold him and refusing to cry.

* * *

**A/N:** It's done! I felt a continuation would have ruined the story, so there you all go :)  
Thanks to everyone who reviewed and stuck to the story!


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